Reuben was the son of Francis Lester and Susan Still, and worked as a groom and gentleman's servant in Feltham, one the western edge of London . In 1835 he stole a horse and was tried at the Old Bailey on 2 February 1835, and sentenced to transportation for life. He came to Tasmania on board the Mangles, his behavior being good on the ship. However once ashore he was rarely out of trouble, being transferred several times and punished for offences such as idleness, neglect of duty, repeated drunkenness and several more serious breaches of regulations. He spent time in solitary confinement, and hard labour in chains, and spent time in Hobart Goal in 1845.  

Eventually he received his Ticket of Leave in the late 1840s, and was married in 1849.  

Reuben and Margaret Porter left Tasmania for the Victorian Gold Rush after two children were born in Tasmania , crossing the Strait in 1852 on board the “Victory”. Reuben mined at Ballarat and they lived at Black Lead, another goldfield near Buninyong. Their third child was born in Ballarat in 1856.  

Reuben was sentenced to 12 months hard labour in goal for stealing a cart, and his prison record states that he had a wife and five children living in Ballarat. The youngest child, a daughter, died while he was in goal, aged 5 months. She was burnt to death in a tragic accident after her two year old brother, Charles, set their tent alight playing with matches. An Inquest took place at Black Lead on 4 March 1859. Reuben was released after serving 8 months, on 2 August 1859.  

The family then disappears. They changed their name to Porter, and Reuben called himself William. Margaret gave her maiden name as Lee, although they rarely registered their children, and often gave false or misleading information when they did. Another five children were born as Porter at Creswick.  

On 18 December 1871 William Porter of White Hills was admitted to Creswick Hospital for ten days. Margaret died from scarlatina maligna on 20 May 1872, aged 45, and was buried at the Creswick Cemetery .  

Reuben (William) went to live with his daughter Emma and her husband in Echuca some years later, where his daughter Susanna was also living with her family, and he died from bronchitis and old age at Emma's home in Warren Street , Echuca West, and was buried in the Echuca Cemetery on 30 July 1889.